The loudest firecracker face-off

These two look similar (they even have the same name) but they’re actually very different firecrackers. Crazy Bang is just a marketing moniker – a wrap around the salutes. It doesn’t really mean anything – chai lei was called Pop Pop (the contact firecrackers kids play) one year.

The large one is actually the original Thunder King while the smaller one is the new Thunder King. It’s a very “Luke, I am your father” moment. It’s really hard to find the old ones nowadays.

Original Thunder King a.k.a. Caucasian dick

It has an OD (Outer Diameter) of more than 1 inch. 3 cm to be exact.

It is almost half a foot long – 14.5 cm.

New Thunder King a.k.a. Asian dick

Diameter of less than 1 inch – about 2.3 cm. You can’t really go much smaller than this for loud salutes.

The length is nearly 4 inches. It’s 9.5 cm.

Of course, the size doesn’t mean a thing – it’s the flash powder charge inside and how it’s constructed that determines how powerful and loud it is so I have here…a side by side test!

I lit both of the Thunder King salutes within close proximity of each other (but not so close that the first blast will send the other firecracker flying) and recorded it while I stood in the middle.

It sounds almost similar but the original Thunder King has more flash powder inside and you can actually feel the strength of the salute as it sends flying debris around. You can see that in the video. The originals are the bane of schools everywhere as kids tape it inside toilet cisterns with a time delay (usually a mosquito coil) and breaks it.

There was one memorable year where the girl’s toilet had more ruined cisterns that needed replacing when I was in high school. I know the girl who did it. Heh.

It’s something I would not want to hold in my hand and I’ve had chai lei’s explode in my hand before. It just caused burns and numbness but I’m not sure it would be that mild with the original Thunder Kings.

Problem is the older, original Thunder Kings are really hard to get now. It’s not only illegal (all firecrackers are illegal anyway) but apparently it violates some kind of flash powder content limit on firecrackers.

I still manage to get a couple every year though, there are floating around, just very hard to find. :D

Guys guys relax, the loudest firecrackers are sold in East europe from countries such as the chech republic, poland etc…. These are Delova dana and big boy profi etc. If you want to look at some serious fireworks look up on youtube “illegaal vuurwerk compilatie 2013-2014” These people are nuts, its in dutch but based on just fireworks you will understand. Fireworks are a big deal in holland and every year the dutch citizens spend millions of euro’s on fireworks, it has become a real passion for many. Enjoy!